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US Midterm Elections
President Donald Trump has made clear in recent weeks that he's willing to use the vast powers of his office to prevent his party from losing control of Congress in next year's midterm elections. Some of the steps Trump has taken to intervene in the election are typical, but controversial, political maneuvers taken to his trademark extremes. That includes pushing Republican lawmakers in Texas and other conservative-controlled states to redraw their legislative maps to expand the number of US House seats favourable to the GOP. Others involve the direct use of official presidential power in ways that have no modern precedent, such as ordering his Department of Justice to investigate the main liberal fundraising entity, ActBlue. The department also is demanding the detailed voter files from each state in an apparent attempt to look for ineligible voters on a vast scale. And on Monday, Trump posted a falsehood-filled rant on social media pledging to lead a movement to outlaw voting ..
Russia's war in Ukraine and anti-regime protests in Iran limited both Moscow and Tehran's ability to try to influence or interfere in the recent U.S. midterm elections, a senior American military official said. U.S. agencies were on high alert before November's vote for potential cyberattacks or foreign influence operations, particularly after adversaries were judged by intelligence agencies to have meddled in the last two presidential elections. But there was little sign of disruption in the midterms. I was surprised by the lack of activity we saw from the Russians, the Iranians, or the Chinese, said Army Maj. Gen. William Hartman, who leads the U.S. Cyber National Mission Force, which partners with the National Security Agency in detecting and stopping election intrusions, on Monday. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been mired in a prolonged war with tens of thousands of casualties since he ordered an invasion of Ukraine in February. And Iran's leaders are waging a bloody ...
A key member of President Joe Biden's economic team, Cecilia Rouse, will leave his administration in the spring, a White House official said Friday. Rouse took academic leave from Princeton University to serve as chair of Biden's Council of Economic Advisers, and she plans to return to there. The official was not authorised to publicly discuss personnel changes and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The pending departure is the first to be disclosed since the midterm elections as Biden's term reaches its halfway point, often a time of transition for any presidential administration. Bloomberg was first to report Rouse's planned departure, and it said Brian Deese, director of Biden's National Economic Council, plans to depart next year. Rouse, a labour economist, was the first Black woman to lead the Council of Economic Advisers. Deese is scheduled to participate in a meeting with Biden and business and labor leaders at the White House on Friday afternoon. It's the Democratic ...
Republicans won control of the US House on Wednesday, returning the party to power in Washington and giving conservatives leverage to blunt President Joe Biden's agenda and spur a flurry of investigations. But a threadbare majority will pose immediate challenges for GOP leaders and complicate the party's ability to govern. More than a week after Election Day, Republicans secured the 218th seat needed to flip the House from Democratic control. The full scope of the party's majority may not be clear for several more days -- or weeks -- as votes in competitive races are still being counted. But they are on track to cobble together what could be the party's narrowest majority of the 21st century, rivalling 2001, when Republicans had just a nine-seat majority, 221-212 with two independents. That is far short of the sweeping victory Republicans predicted going into this year's midterm elections, when the party hoped to reset the agenda on Capitol Hill by capitalising on economic challenges
Democrats kept control of the Senate on Saturday, repelling Republican efforts to retake the chamber and making it harder for them to thwart President Joe Biden's agenda. The fate of the House was still uncertain as the GOP struggled to pull together a slim majority there. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto's victory in Nevada gave Democrats the 50 seats they needed to keep the Senate. Her win reflects the surprising strength of Democrats across the US this election year. Seeking reelection in an economically challenged state that has some of the highest gas prices in the nation, Cortez Masto was considered the Senate's most vulnerable member, adding to the frustration of Republicans who were confident she could be defeated. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer claimed victory on Saturday night, tweeting, Your Senate Democratic Majority! With the results in Nevada now decided, Georgia is the only state where both parties are still competing for a Senate seat. Democratic incumbent Sen
World shares were mostly lower on Wednesday as investors awaited the outcome of the US midterm elections and a major inflation update due on Thursday. Benchmarks fell in London, Paris, Frankfurt and Tokyo. Chinese shares declined after weak inflation data provided further evidence of weakening demand in the world's second-largest economy. US futures also declined. With votes still being counted across the country, Republicans still had the opportunity to win control of Congress. But Democrats showed surprising strength, defeating Republicans in some competitive races despite expectations that inflation and President Joe Biden's low approval ratings would drag the party down. The elections could determine how much is done in the next several years in Washington, and possibly beyond. If Republicans gain control of at least one house of Congress, standoffs with the Democratic White House could stymie progress on legislation. Stocks rallied recently on expectations Republicans might wi
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott decisively won a third term on Tuesday night, defeating Democrat Beto O'Rourke in a midterm race that tested the direction of America's supersized red state following the Uvalde school massacre and a strict new abortion ban. The victory underlined Abbott's durability. Despite record spending in the race that topped more than USD 200 million combined, O'Rourke was in danger of losing by double-digits just four years after his narrow US Senate loss that was the closest by a Texas Democrat in decades. Tonight, Texans sent a very resounding message," Abbott said during a victory speech in the southern border city of McAllen. In rapidly changing Texas a booming juggernaut of 29 million people that is becoming younger, less white and a magnet for major companies Abbott remained a bulwark for the GOP in the face of a high-profile and hard-charging challenger. Abbott capitalised on anxieties about crime and inflation against a charismatic rival who took